Information of Laser Therapy For Dogs

My office just purchased a therapy laser for use in our practice. I saw the demonstration of two different laser companies and I watched all of the testimony on the videos and such, but I still wasn’t sold on the idea. Both companies that came to our office claimed that their laser was “the best laser out there,” of course they can’t both be the best. We settled on one of the lasers and as an office we waited excitedly for our laser to arrive.During this time, I went through the accreditation process to “certify me” to use the laser per our office rules. While doing the online course I learned a lot about the laser and how it does what it does. I got a better understanding of how using laser therapy for dogs is helpful in treating many different things from chronic pain and inflammation to hot spots to faster healing of surgical sites. It can also help with the treatment of chronic ear infections and cystitis

Let’s get a little background on the laser real quick. The word laser actually stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated  Emission of Radiation. A laser is any device which can be made to produce or amplify electromagnetic radiation in wavelengths ranging from 180nm to 1mm by the process of controlled stimulated emission. Lasers have been used in the medical field in Russia, Europe, etc. for over 40 years, but have only been approved in the US since 2003. Therapeutic lasers received clearance in December of 2003, but have been used in Europe for over 10 years.There are two types of lasers:Surgical Lasers:A surgical laser cuts and destroys tissue by excess heating so it in a sense, replaces the scalpel during surgical procedures. The laser takes less time to make the incision and there is less blood loss because it seals the blood vessels as it goes. There are risks involved with the surgical laser such as hemorrhage, infection and perforation of organs.

Therapeutic Laser:The therapeutic laser does not pierce the skin, its energy is absorbed into the skin and stimulates normal cell function which leads to pain relief and quicker healing time. Damaged and compromised cells actually respond better to the laser therapy than normal cells. There are few risks associated with the laser therapy for dogs and none of these are life threatening. Sometimes there is a temporary increase in pain at the therapy site during application, and sometimes there is mild pain the day after treatment. Dogs with dark coats and dark skin pigments have an increased risk of being burned and it is possible to singe the hair if the treatment wand is not moved quickly enough over the treatment area.Therapy lasers can be used to treat many different things for your dog, but there are some instances where it should not be used.Never have laser therapy done over the abdomen or spine of a pregnant female.Never use around the eyes. (Direct contact to the eye can cause temporary or permanent blindness)Never laser over the thyroid , ovaries or testes.Never over tumors unless you are positive they are not cancerous or unless in late stages for pain relief.Since we have had the laser I have seen first hand how it speeds up healing time on surgical incisions, treats hot spots, helps with swelling and inflammation and helps with pain associated with arthritis. 

We have only had our laser for about a month, but I am very optimistic about using it to help a lot of our canine patients and felines as well, get better faster!Therapy lasers have been used in the locker room on athletes for years to help with strains sprains, muscle pulls and other sports related injuries. We are just now starting to get into using the  laser therapy for dogs and cats. If your veterinarian doesn’t have a therapy laser and you think it would benefit your dog, ask if they know of a practice that does or go online. I have seen it work and I would recommend a course of therapy to treat your dog. It can’t hurt, it can only make them better and that’s all that matters.

House Training Your Puppy or Dog

Probably your first training that you undertake with your newly acquired puppy or dog is to ensure that it is properly house trained (also known as house broken). Regard this as the equivalent of potty training a human baby except that thankfully house training a dog will be much quicker and far less trouble. However, some of the criteria that apply to a human baby also apply with regards to house training or potty training your puppy or dog. Like a human baby your puppy:-Will not be completely in control of his bowel or bladder movements until it is more mature.Will not be sure of acceptable toilet manners in your house.

Puppies need to eliminate their bowels often, at least 2 to 3 times as often as adult dogs. Only at about 6 months is he able to control himself, but then seldom up to 8 hours. So, when your puppy has the inevitable accidents and messes where it shouldn't, please don't rub your puppy's nose in it, or hit it, or smack it with a rolled up newspaper which many people advise. You wouldn't treat a human baby like that would you? All these actions will only serve to confuse your puppy or dog and in fact will be counter productive to your house training efforts.A dog will not link the punishment, often administered well after the event, to the act of his messing in the house. He will however associate a mess and the presence of a human, as something which results in punishment. He will then when he has made a mess avert his gaze and "look away or appear to look guilty". This is often mistaken by the owner, who feels that the dog has this "guilty look" because he knows he has done wrong. 

This may encourage the owner to continue with this treatment, resulting in further confusion to the dog leading to anxiety build up which is likely to exacerbate the problem, through loss of bowel control, which can also result in submissive urinating whenever the owner approaches.So, how should you house train your dog?Under natural environmental conditions a dog or wolf will lick her puppies to stimulate elimination. The mother will then eat any deposits to keep the den clean. Instinctively the puppy has an aversion to soiling its sleeping area and normally from an age of 3 to 4 weeks will attempt to leave its sleeping area in order to wee or pooh. Dogs learn quickly through a reward based system. Use the above two facts to quickly house train your dog:-Immediately upon arriving home with your newly acquired puppy or dog, before even entering your home, take him to the area where you want him to wee and pooh. Let him explore, hopefully he will walk and sniff around a bit. If things go well he may oblige by eliminating. If he does, immediately reward him with a tasty treat.Take your dog inside. After an hour, and every hour after that, take your dog outside to the selected spot. Reward him immediately with a treat if he does anything. It's probably more likely however, that he will not oblige. Be prepared to spend at least 5 minutes with your dog while he sniffs around the area. If after 5 minutes he still hasn't done anything take him back inside, but this time take him back to the outside area after 10 minutes. 

Of course if you did have success with him eliminating previously then you only need to return to the outside area every hour.Always take him outside to the selected spot immediately after his mealtimes, on waking, after play or after excitement.Take your dog to the selected area should he show signs of restlessness which includes whining, sniffing, running with nose to floor, circling around or scratching at the door, getting ready to squat. All these signs could indicate that your dog needs to wee or pooh.In all the above cases it is preferable when taking the puppy or dog outside to allow him to walk or run from inside to outside himself. This will ensure that he quickly learns to whine at the outside door when he needs to go outside.During sleeping hours it will be impractical to let your puppy go outside every hour. However it will help immensely if you are prepared to get up once during the night say after about 4 hours to allow your puppy to relieve himself. This will certainly cut down on accidents.You should ensure that you confine your dog to an area which is easy to clean in case of accidents.Should you see your puppy attempting to squat indoors, scoop him up as quickly as possibly and take him outside, alternatively a loud shout "No" to startle him often stops him in time allowing you then to lead him outside.In case of accidents don't scold your dog it will just confuse him. Simply clean up as soon as possible, use a deodorant to ensure no urine smells are left else your pup will be attracted to go to that area again. Do not use ammonia based cleaning agents as this may smell similar to urine to the puppy. 

 When cleaning up it is best to do it without the dog being present. With the correct training outlined here you will not need to do this too often as your puppy should soon become housetrained.While your puppy or dog eliminates itself use a word to signify the event. You only say the word while your puppy is actually in the act. You might use "do it" or any other word/s, but keep it simple and uncomplicated. I say "go now" to my dogs. What will eventually happen is that your puppy or dog will associate this word/s with the act of relieving itself and your dog will actually learn to relieve himself on command, provided of course that he has the need to do so.During the training process you should reward a successful outcome with praise and perhaps a tasty treat. If you feel that you will need more help to house train (house break) your dog or puppy, there is a book that I wholeheartedly recommend. What I like about this book is that it also gives you access to a very good forum. If you are having any problems that the book does not solve you can always ask for free expert advice at the forum. For more information on my recommended house training book. Please Click Here!Using a crate can assist immensely with creating a comfortable environment for your puppy as well as assisting with the house training process.